It was nearly seven in the evening by the time they arrived at the forest villa near Mount Kariba.
The villa's exterior carried a very Kyoto-style atmosphere, and there was even a wooden plaque beside the front gate carved with the characters "Hayasaka."
After getting out of the car, Ritsu stretched his body. Driving for such a long time really was exhausting. Lazily yawning, he glanced at Hayasaka, who was fast asleep in the passenger seat.
He really envied people who could sleep soundly inside a car.
Reaching out, he rolled down the window before walking around to the passenger side and leaning in slightly.
"Hey, wake up. We're here."
Hayasaka groggily opened her eyes, only to find an enlarged face suddenly appearing right in front of her. Reflexively, she swung a slap at him. Fortunately, Ritsu's reaction speed was fast enough, otherwise his glasses might've gone flying.
"Hayasaka, are you trying to commit murder?"
"Well whose fault is it for leaning in so close? You scared me, so you deserved it."
"I should've just left you sleeping in the car. No good deed goes unpunished."
Even while grumbling, Ritsu still carried all the luggage from the trunk by himself and strode toward the entrance.
The inside of the villa had been cleaned spotless. It was obvious a housekeeping company had tidied everything in advance.
After piling the three suitcases in the living room, Ritsu immediately collapsed onto the sofa without wanting to move another inch. Honestly, he was exhausted.
Between flying, driving, and constantly traveling around all day, it somehow felt even more tiring than carrying out Organization missions.
Hayasaka picked up the remote and turned on the TV, switching it to the drama she was currently obsessed with. It was a new romance series starring Yoko Okino, about a heroine from the future returning to school to pursue the man she loved across a span of ten years.
The plot was cliché and melodramatic, yet Hayasaka watched it with complete fascination.
Squinting slightly, Ritsu took out his phone and snapped a photo of a cleverly angled almost-kiss scene between Yoko and the male lead. With terrible intentions, he sent it directly to a certain die-hard fan.
Not even three minutes later, he got a reply.
[Vodka: AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I deliberately skipped this scene!!! Augier, how could you do this to me?! 😭!!!]
An emoticon.
Ritsu couldn't help leaning back strategically. He really wanted to point out that Vodka was already thirty-four years old, so using emoticons felt a little inappropriate. More importantly, his face looked absolutely nothing like someone who'd use them.
As he was about to reply to the email, a strange sound suddenly came from outside.
The two of them instantly exchanged looks. Extremely sensitive to noises like this, Ritsu hurriedly grabbed the coat beside him and frowned.
"I'm going outside to take a look. Stay inside the villa."
"But it's already this late outside. Going alone…"
"Relax, I'll be fine. Maybe it's just someone illegally hunting at night."
"But…"
Ritsu put on his coat and pulled open the front door. "I'll be fine. Or what, are you hoping something happens to me?"
Hayasaka's pretty face immediately darkened with displeasure. "Pfft! Don't say things like that and jinx yourself at a time like this. I'll stay here and wait!"
Switching his glasses into night-vision mode, Ritsu headed toward the direction of the gunshot. He seriously hoped there wasn't another violent case waiting for him, otherwise he'd start wondering if the God of Bad Luck had attached itself to him.
Following the direction of the shots, Ritsu soon discovered there had been a small-scale avalanche.
More accurately, the earlier localized heavy rain had caused a minor landslide, which sent the mountain snow cascading downward.
The gunshots had definitely come from this area.
'Could it be that the shooter had coincidentally been buried by the avalanche?'
As he was thinking that, another gunshot rang out. This time extremely close to his position.
'That gunshot… It was a distress signal!'
Realizing someone had been buried beneath the snow, Ritsu immediately rushed toward the exact direction. The fact the person could still fire a gun meant they were conscious. As long as they hadn't passed the golden rescue window, there was still hope.
"Can you hear my voice?! If you can, fire one more shot!"
No response came for quite a while.
Ritsu finished putting on his gloves and prepared to start digging directly when another shot rang out. The bullet struck the snow barely two meters in front of him.
Dangerous. If he'd happened to be standing directly above, he probably would've been done for.
"I know where you are now. Conserve your strength, I'm getting you out! And remember, don't fire again!"
Ritsu had no desire to die while trying to save someone. That would be a complete loss.
He dug forcefully through the snow. Even through the gloves, his fingers felt frozen numb.
Perhaps because the gunshots had sounded again, Hayasaka, who had remained inside the villa, finally couldn't sit still after hearing the third shot. Carrying a flashlight, she followed the direction of the sound.
"Onizawa? Is that you?"
Feeling the flashlight beam land on him, Ritsu frowned in annoyance. "Didn't I tell you to stay inside the villa? Why did you come out here?!"
"We're on vacation right now. You're not my boss."
Hayasaka sounded dissatisfied. She had come out because she was worried something had happened to him, yet he was still lecturing her.
'Seriously, no good deed went unpunished. That heartless idiot Onizawa.'
Finally, Ritsu uncovered a grayish-green padded coat beneath the snow. Immediately increasing his speed, he dug upward first, prioritizing clearing the snow from the victim's face to prevent suffocation from lack of air.
At first, Hayasaka didn't understand what Ritsu was doing, but the moment she saw the clothing, she quickly put down her flashlight and prepared to help dig.
Before she could start, Ritsu stopped her.
"Warm up the car and park it as close to the forest entrance as possible. Look up the nearest hospital, contact them ahead of time, and report the situation so they can prepare emergency treatment immediately."
"Okay, but can you handle this by yourself?"
"Of course."
Grinding his teeth, Ritsu continued digging. His fingertips had already gone so numb he couldn't even feel the earlier pain anymore.
Fortunately, hard work paid off. He finally dug out the man buried beneath the snow.
There was a massive X-shaped wound over the man's left eye, and dark red blood covered most of his face, making it impossible to clearly see his features.
Ritsu checked his breathing and finally relaxed once he confirmed the man was still alive.
Carefully trying to keep his movements gentle, he cleared away the remaining snow, then removed his own coat and wrapped it around the unidentified man to prevent his body temperature from dropping further.
Hoisting the man onto his back, Ritsu hurried toward the entrance as quickly as possible.
When he saw Hayasaka's tiny Beetle waiting nearby, he carefully placed the injured man into the back seat. Normally Ritsu would've driven himself, but his hands were so frozen they'd gone numb, leaving Hayasaka to take the wheel instead.
"Did you contact the hospital?"
"Already explained everything. Is twenty minutes enough time?"
"Guess the location really is pretty remote…"
Ritsu immediately cranked the heater inside the car to maximum before glancing at the sweater Hayasaka was wearing.
"Give me your coat. His body's highly vulnerable to the cold right now, and I still need to treat his wounds."
"Okay. The medical kit's already in the back seat."
After giving the man some basic treatment, Ritsu noticed the object tightly clenched in his left hand.
Pulling it free, he discovered a police badge he was very familiar with. Combined with the revolver the man had been holding earlier, it seemed he had encountered a fellow officer.
Opening the badge, he saw a much younger face with a clean-shaven jaw and no horrifying scars yet present.
The injury to the eye really was fresh. Most likely the eyeball itself had been damaged.
There was a strong possibility the man would need eye removal surgery.
Yamato Kansuke.
'Heh… interesting name.'
For some reason, it reminded him of the famous Sengoku-era strategist Yamamoto Kansuke.
"How is he?"
"The injuries are under control for now, but his left leg and left eye probably…" Ritsu didn't continue.
Focused on driving, Hayasaka understood what he meant and sighed helplessly. "Being alive is already enough. He's lucky."
"Yeah."